The Zero Doctors
by DarthRushy
Summary: All of the Doctors have successfully been taken out of time and stranded in a pocket universe. Only a shadow of him remains, lost and confused. Can the companions find the Doctors before the universes are sealed off forever, removing all memory of him as well?


The small man stood at the grave of the mighty. The mighty was dead, the small man lived. The universe was so vast, so ridiculous, so utterly without logic that it made only sense for the small man to live and the mighty to be gone.

The small man examined the grave in curiosity. It was huge. Filled with the mighty's hopes and dreams and expectations. Filled with the small man's dread and nightmares and failures.  
It was almost a proper grave. Except of course that big, huge, undeniable, unimaginable, unexpected, unthinkable and above all else, unwanted crime... it was empty.

The owner of the grave was glaring at it. Humans... they thought him dead. They thought him gone, disappeared like that old book no one ever cares to read which gets tossed to the bottom of the drawer. And when they open the drawer, poof! It's gone. The book is missed, the book is mourned.  
But no one thinks that the book cannot possibly be gone, because it's REAL. Something real is... well, real.

It was there, it's not there. But it has to be somewhere. And if you search really hard, you'll find it. Or perhaps... just a page of it. But where there's a page, there's got to be a book.

* * *

The small man finally turned around and passed through the empty graveyard. He enjoyed the silence, the utter peace of the place. It felt far more alive than busy cities ever did. He walked out of the gate and closed it behind him.

He was halted by two officers. UNIT had found him.  
Bugger.

"Sir, you better come with us."  
The small man grinned. "I'm not guilty of any _crime_, am I?"

"We will explain on route, sir." replied the soldier robotically.  
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen."  
The soldier persisted: "I am under orders to take you to UNIT HQ, sir. Please do not resist."

"How could I possibly resist? I'm just a doctor, you're a whole blinking army."  
The soldier seemed relieved that the man agreed with him. He was warned that the operation might be dangerous.  
"Yes sir. Please enter the vehicle sir." He gestured to the nearby car.

The small man seemed to have no qualms about a visit to UNIT. He got into the car and spoke no further.

The soldier sat down next to him and ordered the driver to take them to their destination.

* * *

"So what does UNIT want from me this time?" asked the small man from the UNIT soldier.  
"I was not informed you've worked with us before, sir." replied the soldier, both curious and surprised.

"Not your fault, not your fault. No one remembers me."

"Mr. Smith, it has come to our attention that you're in possession of extraterrestrial technology known as the TARDIS."  
The small man sent him a cold look that sent shivers down the _trained_ soldier's back.  
"Never heard of it."  
"It looks something like a 1960s British police box."

"Never heard of it."  
"Sir, we have proof that you have it. The TARDIS was brought in from your backyard this morning." answered the soldier victoriously.  
"Never heard of it. 'Twas probably planted there."

The soldier was not liking this mr. Smith, not one bit. "Sir, if you have worked with us before, then surely you know what I'm talking about."  
"You're talking nonsense. The last job I did for UNIT was before you were in diapers."  
"Sir, you're trying my patience!"

Mr. Smith didn't give up easily. "And you're trying mine. Now, whaddaya say we play a new game? It's called: spot the screwdriver."  
"Sir-?" started the soldier, but was hit with a tool which immediately numbed his head. He collapsed into the seat.  
The small man made it look like he was still awake and placed the tool back into the pocket of his jacket.

* * *

Upon arrival to UNIT HQ, the small man had already tied his TARDIS key around his neck and was out and about. People noticed him even less than usual.

A lot had changed in the past years, but mr. Smith still knew his way around the place. As he was looking for the blue box, he came across a security room filled with live camera feeds and lots of blue-green-red buttons! Oh, he loved buttons!

The small man easily took care of everyone in the room and activated his screwdriver. He spoke loudly: "Never think of the Doctor."  
After finishing the recording, he removed part of the screwdriver and with just a touch of jiggery-pokery, turned it into a very primitive chameleon circuit. He left it, emanating the recording(whilst also being completely hidden) through the speakers.

To test his latest invention, he took off his TARDIS key and surprise, surprise! No one realized he was there. Perfection. Finding his TARDIS was now easy as pie.

Mr. Smith opened the doors and ventured into the orange control room. The Doctor had changed it after their encounter, but he preferred it this way. It was chaotic and yet still warm at the same time.

Allons-y!


End file.
